The Sound of Whales (6 page)

The harbour was quiet, the only sound the slop of water against the stone walls and the cry of a distant gull. It had grown chilly and Fraser thought of Jonah, bare-chested and sockless. Wherever he came from, he would be feeling the cold.

At the
Moby Dick
he could tell Ben wasn't home. A light usually glowed through the open hatch from the cabin below. He was probably having a drink with the old fishermen in the harbour pub.

‘Ben's not here,' Fraser said. ‘He probably walked along the beach. He won't be far.'

‘I've just got sand
out
of my shoes,' Hayley said.

‘Don't come then. Just stay here.'

‘I will,' Hayley replied.

Fraser moved quickly along the jetty and jumped down on to the sand. ‘I won't be long.'

‘Fraser,' the girl shouted, ‘don't you dare leave me here with your brother.'

Fraser put his head down and pretended not to hear. He ran along the beach, close to the waves where the sand was firmer. He knew Hayley would march Dunny straight back to his parents and he would be in deep trouble. But that was a worry for later.

When he reached the cliff Jonah emerged warily from his cave, as if he expected a squad of policemen, the coastguard, or Fraser's father at the very least.

‘You are alone,' he said. His sigh of relief was followed by a gentle smile of gratitude.

He pulled on both sweatshirts and devoured the cold food, taking greedy mouthfuls as if he hadn't eaten in days. Fraser sat on a rock and watched him, wondered again who he was and where he was from.

A clatter of stones made Fraser spin around and there was Hayley Risso standing in the half-light, a dumbstruck look on her face.

‘What are you doing here?' he said.

The girl didn't answer, asked instead, ‘Who is
that
?'

Jonah glanced around him, a fearful look back on his face, his body tensed to fight or run. ‘You promised you would come alone.'

‘I did. She followed me.' Fraser turned to the girl. ‘Why do you keep following me?'

‘Don't flatter yourself,' she growled. ‘I refuse to be abandoned at the harbour with your little brother.'

‘Dunny, where is he?'

‘He was right behind me.'

‘Great. You're here and Dunny's lost.'

‘What was I supposed to do?'

‘You should have stayed where you were.'

‘And you shouldn't have run away.' Hayley looked at the large man who was standing in a sweatshirt too small for him, holding a plastic dish in one hand and a fork in the other. ‘Who
is
this guy?'

‘This is Jonah.' He faced the man. ‘Jonah, this is Hayley. She followed me here. I'm sorry.'

‘Can she keep a secret?' Jonah asked.

‘Yes, I can keep a secret,' Hayley said.

‘You are American.'

‘Yes, I am. And where are you from?'

The man's eyes darted from Fraser to Hayley and back again, seemingly weighing up the danger of telling them more. Finally he sighed and said, ‘I am from Lesotho, a small country in Africa.'

‘I knew it!' said Fraser. He repeated the word. ‘Le-su-tu.' He recognized the name, remembered it was pronounced differently from how it was spelt. He liked maps, liked looking at exotic places around the world that were a million miles from Skulavaig. Lesotho sounded exotic.

‘Never heard of it,' Hayley declared.

‘So why have you come to Scotland?' Fraser asked.

The African man gave a grim laugh. ‘I did not expect to come here. All I know of this land is that you have a monster in a lake.'

‘This is perfect,' Hayley said. ‘My mom is writing a book about people like you. She could do an interview.'

‘You keep out of this,' Fraser said.

‘Oh, I don't think so. Either I'm part of this little game or your dad will no longer wonder what happened to his boots.'

Fraser's outrage was instant and overwhelming. ‘You are the most
 . . . 
the most
 . . .
' He fizzed as he searched for the words. ‘The most annoying, conniving, stuck-up
 . . .

‘Enough,' said Jonah softly. He clasped his hands together, as if in thanksgiving. ‘What's done is done. The girl knows I am here.' He turned to Hayley, a troubled dip to his eyebrows, his voice grave with a hint of pleading. ‘Will you promise not to tell anyone of my presence in this place? Especially your mother?'

‘Only if you tell us what you're doing here. We call Mexicans living in Texas illegal aliens. Is that what you are, an illegal alien?'

‘If you mean have I been invited by this country's government to come and stay, then the answer is obviously no. Otherwise I would not be hiding in a cave.'

There was another term Fraser remembered. ‘Are you an asylum seeker?'

‘Asylum seeker, illegal alien, these are just words.' Jonah gave a deep sigh. ‘All I know is that I am very far from home.'

‘So why come to
this
island?'

‘I did not come to this island. This island came to me.'

There was no more talk for a moment and above the crash of waves they heard a sound like a chant, a single note that changed pitch from low to high and back again.

‘Down there,' Jonah said, pointing to the waves, his finger trembling. ‘What is that?'

‘That will be my brother.'

‘Your brother? Will he talk?'

‘He really won't.' Fraser gave a weary smile and said, ‘Dunny talks almost as well as he sings.'

He trudged towards the breaking surf. Away from the cave it wasn't completely dark and he could see the figure of his brother standing at the ocean's edge. The moon had risen above the cliffs and cast a ghostly light on to Dunny and the water. The boy stood motionless facing the sea, making a quiet humming sound now.

The African moved alongside Fraser and stretched out an arm. ‘Do you see there?'

Fraser followed Jonah's pointing, out beyond his brother, out beyond the breaking waves. Something moved in the water, something big and dark.

A fin.

‘Is that a shark?' Hayley asked.

‘It's not a shark,' Fraser said. ‘It's a whale.'

And he knew immediately that it was not just any kind of whale. It was the most wondrous kind. The kind you were not supposed to see off the coast of Nin.

‘It's a killer whale. An orca.'

The fin rose slightly from the water and he could see a white flank and a round head. The moonlight reflected on its sleek body as it cut through the water. Fraser took a step forward.

‘That's amazing,' he whispered.

‘There's another one,' Hayley said.

‘And another,' said the African.

Fraser looked and saw a pod of orcas swimming offshore. In all his life no one, not even Ben, had ever seen orcas off his little island. His heart pounded so fast he hoped the sound didn't scare them away.

He heard a splash and turned to see Dunny wading into the rolling waves.

‘No, Dunny,' he cried, and without thinking he ran and ploughed into the ocean after him. The water was icy cold and it snatched away his breath. He struggled to keep upright in the surf. Dunny was in up to his waist when Fraser reached him. He grabbed his arm and hauled him towards the shore.

‘You can't swim with orcas,' he shouted, panting. ‘They're carnivores, they could attack.'

Dunny shook his head and tried to tug free. Fraser pulled again but his brother resisted; he was stronger than he looked.

‘Dunny!' he shouted again and he heard Hayley yell from the beach. A wave rolled over them and its crest slapped him on the face giving him a mouthful of salty water. When he looked the whales were closer, he could almost have reached out and touched a fin. He tightened his grip around Dunny's arm and heaved. The boy's legs gave out from under him, he floated for a moment and Fraser pulled hard. Slowly they splashed back towards the shore. Hayley and Jonah helped them on to the dry sand.

Fraser stood on the beach and dripped water and held on to his brother's arm. He could feel Dunny pull against him, as if he wasn't done yet with the whales. The orcas were further out now, dark fins silhouetted against the dim horizon, cutting through the water with barely a ripple.

‘We can't swim with them,' Fraser said, taking deep breaths. They stood and gazed for a few moments. ‘A pod of orcas, can you believe it? I almost don't mind getting wet.'

Dunny sat on the sand and Fraser sat down beside him. He shivered in his wet clothes as they watched the whales and Fraser realized they were alone. He could see the figure of Hayley making her way towards town, and Jonah must have gone back to his cave.

‘This isn't so bad.'

He looked at his brother and saw him gently smile.

‘We haven't done this kind of thing for ages.' He laughed in amazement. ‘Well, we've never done this exactly. There's never been killer whales before.'

And in turn each whale blew, a deep whoosh that echoed across the waves, sending up a spray of water that glimmered in the moonbeams.

CHAPTER 8

H
ayley returned to the harbour alone, leaving the Dunbar boys captivated by the whales. It had been fascinating to start with, especially when Dunny had tried to get eaten, but there were only so many circling silhouettes she could enjoy. And it was time to head back – it had been two hours since dinner and her mom would be panicking.

As she climbed on to the end of the jetty she heard laughter and voices and one of them was her mom's. She didn't sound frantic with worry. Hayley listened some more and made out a man's voice with a Scottish accent. Ben McCaig! What was going on here?

Her first impulse was to march over, full of indignation, but then she thought she should listen for a bit. Get some evidence to back up her outrage. She dropped back down on to the beach and crept along until she was level with Ben's boat on the other side of the stone wall. Her mother was on top of the jetty talking to Ben.

‘Well, if you see her, you can tell her to get home.'

Hayley thought again,
This is not my home
.

‘They'll be by the harbour somewhere. Nowhere else to go.'

‘It
is
a lovely little harbour. Is yours the only boat that moors here?'

‘There's a marina along the coast. Most of the boats berth there now.'

‘Are there many?'

‘A few. There used to be a fishing fleet, before my time, but the fish have gone now, if not the old fishermen. A few still work, a few still have their boats.'

So her mom was researching
and
flirting at the same time.

‘You're all alone here, then?'

‘Aye, the harbour's too wee for most of the boats. An occasional yacht will tie up in the summer and there's the ferry, although it doesn't always come, not if the seas are rough. That happens a lot. You need to be a lot more self-reliant if you live on an island.'

‘You seem to manage fine.'

From the beach Hayley thought,
What was that?
She pictured her mom's coy smile, the gentlest of touches on Ben's bare arm. This was embarrassing.

‘I'm only here for the summer but it's a fine life. I have no money and my boat is falling apart but I'm doing what I love.'

‘We should all strive for that.'

Hayley's face crumpled in disgust.

‘Well, you must love being a writer? What's your book about?'

‘It's about displaced people – where they've come from, where they're going, how they get there.'

‘Why Scotland?' Before her mom could answer, Ben added, ‘Why Nin?'

‘Your country has a long history of people on the move. Look at your Highland clearances. Even today people are coming and going. There is a story here.'

Hayley recognized the slightly evasive tone in her mother's voice. She had heard it often enough when her parents' marriage first hit the rocks and they were pretending everything was still all right. No, her mom wasn't telling Ben McCaig everything.

There was silence now.
Please God they're not kissing
, Hayley thought. She had to know, so she carefully grasped the top of the wall with her fingertips and slowly pulled herself up so her eyes peeked over the top. Her mom and Ben were gone. She turned and saw them wandering down the jetty towards the ocean. She dropped back on to the beach and moved down the sand until she could go no further without paddling. The wall was higher here; if they kissed now, she would never know. Unless there were slobbering noises. Hayley shuddered at the thought and heard Ben say, ‘We've only one pub on Nin but three churches. It is a very religious island.'

Sarah laughed. ‘At least you have one pub. I grew up in what was called a dry county. No liquor allowed. You can buy me a drink some night. It would be wrong to come to Scotland and not try a whisky.'

Hayley expected her mom to say,
Pick one of three churches and let's get married
. She heard them laugh together.

‘Come to the ceilidh tomorrow,' Ben said.

‘Is that a dance?'

‘Aye, Highland dancing and the like. It's a good laugh and you won't be any worse at it than me.'

‘You'd be surprised.'

OMG
, Hayley said to herself,
now they've arranged a date
.

‘OK,' her mother said, ‘that's a date.'

See
, Hayley shouted in her head.
See, I told you: a date
.

‘But for now,' Sarah continued, ‘I need to find my daughter. Last seen heading that way.'

‘They'll be fine. Fraser is the reliable sort and Dunny knows every grain of sand on this beach. They're good boys, they've been out on the boat with me a few times. They will be exploring the caves, seeing if there are mermaids and monsters in them.'

From her crouching position behind the wall, Hayley thought,
If only you knew what was in the cave
.

‘Has Dunny never spoken?' Sarah asked.

‘Not as far as I'm aware.'

‘That must be so sad for Jessie and Duncan.'

‘Aye, they're good people, it's a shame.'

Sarah sighed. ‘I best go find my daughter. Sometimes she has too much to say.'

‘Well, don't worry, the view will still be here tomorrow.'

‘I do like this view. What will I see in the daylight?'

‘Over there is the mainland, and over that side is the big island of Skye, which isn't really an island any more since they built the bridge. In front of us, can you see that bit of land in the distance across the water?'

‘Where there's a lighthouse flashing?'

‘That's the tip of the island of Rona and beyond that there's Raasay and beyond that there's Scalpay. Nin is the most northerly island of the little archipelago.'

‘I have a map of Scotland,' Sarah said, ‘but I couldn't find this island anywhere. It's as if it doesn't exist.'

‘That's because it doesn't,' Ben said. ‘The island of Nin is a ghost isle.'

‘It does lack a little bit of life.'

‘Aye, it's not exactly buzzing, but a ghost isle is an island that doesn't appear on maps.'

‘Why not?'

‘Because of bad geography and ancient history. The earliest maps were not always the most accurate maps. No Google Earth back then. Places were often wrongly mapped or not mapped at all. On the first map of Scotland the island of Nin was missed out. Later maps just copied that first map and so the error kept going. Some maps today still have the mistake. Not every map, just some.'

‘I'll remember that. And what's the water called?'

‘There's a deep channel that lies between the islands and the mainland. Map-makers named it the Inner Sound. The people of Nin know it by its older Gaelic name,
Caolas Mucmhara
.'

‘What does that mean?' Sarah asked.

There was a pause before Ben said, ‘It means the Sound of Whales.'

Sarah laughed. ‘I guess that's why you're here.'

‘It is. In the last couple of years there have been a lot of whales in the Sound. Way more than usual. I'm here to find out why.'

‘What's your theory?'

‘It probably involves fluctuating ocean currents caused by climate change. But there's more research to be done.'

‘Sounds fascinating.'

Ben laughed. ‘You're humouring the whale nerd.'

‘No, it's your work, and it's important to you.'

‘You best go find your daughter.'

‘No need. Come on, Hayley, let's go.'

Hayley, crouching behind the wall, jumped in fright. How did her mom know she was there? She stood up and walked along to where the wall was low enough to climb up on top. Her mom and Ben were waiting for her.

‘Good evening, Ben,' she said nonchalantly.

‘Hello again.'

‘Hi, Mom.'

‘Where have you been?' Sarah asked.

‘The boys and I took a walk along the shore.'

‘And are they behind the wall as well?'

‘No, just me.'

Hayley gave them her most winning smile – her cheerleader smile, her mom called it – and set off up the road towards the cottage. She heard her mom say goodnight to Ben, glanced back to see if there was a peck on the cheek but her mother was right behind her and Ben stood on the jetty in the dark, watching them go.

It had been quite a day, unlike any she had experienced back in Texas. For a ghost island on the edge of nowhere, Nin had a lot going on.